Mission Command is Applicable to the Total Force

A Guest Post by Lukas Toth

As a junior major, wrapping up my year at the College of Naval Command and Staff, I fully expected to find myself as Battalion Executive Officer or maybe on a Brigade or higher staff. I was very surprised when I was selected to command a unique headquarters company in a two-star headquarters consisting of nearly 300 Army Civilians, numerous contractors, and 135 Active and Reserve Soldiers. I had spent the last year learning about operational art and comparing and contrasting the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) with the Naval Planning Process (NPP) in preparation for my cubical on staff.

Struggles in Mission Command

Collectively, the U.S. Army understands the philosophy of Mission Command and defines it well in current doctrine, yet fails to understand how to effectively execute mission command.

This paper will highlight two significant areas of improvement in the execution of current mission command doctrine within the U.S. Army. First, commanders at echelon must understand well defined strategic and operational objectives in priority order. A greater understanding of the strategic and operational objectives by tactical and operational commanders will encourage disciplined initiative in achieving higher objectives where appropriate. Understanding initiative and risk because immense responsibility has been laid at their feet with unbalanced authority to execute the mission within the commander’s intent. The concept of risk acceptance weighs heavily in this dynamic. Adjustments in the practice of mission command in these two areas will have far reaching effects across domains.      

RX: Mission Command

It’s finally happened.  After years of toil and growing pains as a company grade officer, you’ve made it to the next level: the key position of field grade.  Moving to your new unit, you are in your first year as the S3 Operations Officer, ready and energetic to make a difference and earn your title of “Iron Major.”  The first few weeks of transition and the honeymoon period sail by as you learn the organization, your team, and the new boss.  But as the dust settles and you begin to see the landscape from an informed position, you realize that something is wrong.  

There is frustration.  There is a lot of frustration.  The tension is palpable, with friction on multiple levels.  The staff doesn’t cooperate, fights with higher headquarters staff, and is constantly at odds with the company commanders.  The commanders are disjointed, with each unit pulling in different directions.  No one seems to know what to do next, so they do nothing.  You’re frustrated, they’re frustrated, and to make it worse, the boss is frustrated. However, as the newest addition to the team, you realize that you may be the only one with enough perspective to solve the problem.  

It’s clear to you that there is a failure in mission command and that something has to change.  However, what is less clear is what the actual problem is.  You’ve seen other organizations disintegrate amid mission command failures, with the unit unhappy and unproductive, where it seemed easy to blame the commander for not trusting or providing guidance, or – on the other side of the coin – blame the subordinates for being lazy and not taking initiative.  But no one wins in these situations when you’re blaming your own people.

One evening, after the office has cleared out and you have time to think, you reconsider some past observations.  You wonder what your unit’s problem is, and you realize that each of those previous situations was different and unique.  A line from Tolstoy drifts into your head, that “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” and that you need to figure out what your family’s problem is…  Deep… You must be getting this field grade thing already.  Ok, back on track.

You intuitively know that jumping to implement a new program or aggressively embarking on a campaign to improve OPORDs is a real rookie mistake.  You realize that the first thing you need to do is correctly diagnose the problem – a little mission analysis.  From your perspective as mid-level management, you look at both the staff and the commanders as different entities, which might have their own subpopulations and problems. The unit overall is failing and ineffective, and, while this manifests in different ways, it seems like the common theme is lack of confidence.

Examining each piece as if it were a puzzle, you think about what makes the different groups that way… Is it that they are unwilling to take responsibility and initiative?  This is the easy and first answer to come to.  But with a little more thought, maybe it is more complex than that.  Maybe it is about ability, that they are not able to carry out the tasks, based on access or resources, and cannot take the next steps on their own… Or maybe it is that they do not have the capability to do so, that the potential to move forward is there, but not the skill mastery.

In dissecting the complex problem from different perspectives of staff sections and companies, you realize that they each have different challenges, and that each of these challenges requires a different solution.  You come to the conclusion that the principles of mission command align with different approaches to these problems.  An incapable staff section with junior leadership might need more training and coaching to increase its competence.  A company commander who has recently stepped on it (more than once) does not have the battalion commander’s trust and isn’t allowed to do anything without express permission.  In another example, you realize that the whole unit was hamstrung by the ability to exercise a mission, because the staff’s directions and analysis of their order were not good quality, resulting in a less-than-stellar order to the companies.  

You recognize that different populations and diverse situations all had different symptoms of the disease of mission command failure.  Not escaping scrutiny, you also realize that there may be situations where the boss did not provide the clearest intent, or may have been unwilling to release the grip of control enough to let things happen.  That’s another knot to uncoil.  

With new understanding washing over you, you sketch out a few ideas and recommendations that can be broadly implemented, with a few more that require specific direction at a targeted audience.  You know that you need to discuss this with the other Major on staff, your battle buddy, whose different experience and perspective may illuminate other circumstances.  Any approach to treating this disease of dysfunction has to be a combined effort.  

While you are fairly confident with your assessments, you are even more convinced that to cure the mission command problem, you have to correctly diagnose it.  Failure to do so would waste precious time and staff calories on the wrong problem.  Or, worse yet, succumbing to an attribution error or placing a value judgment (“the staff is lazy” or “the commander doesn’t give guidance”) would create more harm and allow the disease to grow… Armed with this clarity, you’re ready for the next step.  You’ve got this.

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MAJ Williams has operational experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and completed KD time as a battalion and brigade S3.

Mission Command + Command and Control: An Imperative for the Reserve Components

A Guest Post by Jon Farr

The July 2019 update of ADP6-0 contained several changes, notably the reintroduction of command and control as both a method for executing mission command and a warfighting function.  The manual’s introduction explains that this was necessary because, since the 2012 edition, the term mission command had become something of a catch-all phrase, muddying definitions and diluting the potential found in decentralized operations. As the Army refocuses on large scale ground combat operations (LSGCO) in a multi-domain environment, differentiating between mission command and command and control is necessary.  For the Reserve Components (RC), constrained by time and distance, employing an integrated Mission Command + Command and Control (MC+C2) approach is critical to building readiness. When the commander owns MC and the staff enables C2, units turn the inherent constraints of the RC into building blocks for readiness.

The Commander’s Intent in Mission Command

A Guest Post by Reece Collins

July 2019 saw a huge revision of U.S. Army doctrine. Like everything in the Army though, as much as things change they also stay the same. One of the biggest revisions is the reintroduction of Command and Control into Army lexicon. One of the main reasons this was done was because the concept of Mission Command never took hold across the joint community. The joint force maintained command and control and when joint operations took place that was the terminology used. The reintroduction of command and control into army doctrine synchronizes the Army with the rest of the military arm of national power, yet how the Army approaches command and control will be familiar to anyone who has been leading in the Army over the last decade.

A Rose by Any Other Name

A Guest Post by Andrew Bordelon

Sept 25, 2019. US Army photo by Master Sgt. Alejandro Licea

The new mission command approach to command and control identified a confusing gap in command techniques for Army leaders.  Prior to the revised 2019 publication of ADP 3-0 Operations and ADP 6-0 Mission Command, mission command and command and control were presented as two techniques for leaders to accomplish their mission.  Both techniques had guiding principles, but the commander ultimately chose how much to empower or control a subordinate’s initiative. Both Mission command and command and control, as described in doctrine prior to 2019 strove to reach a similar endstate.  A commander wants his subordinates to understand what they have to do and what information he needs to know throughout an operation. He understands that the “fog” of war will present unforeseen challenges to his unit. The two previous concepts were simply different ways to manage multiple subordinates working towards an end state.  Today, these concepts have been codified into Mission Command doctrine. The new Mission Command doctrine lays out what the Army wanted to emphasize all along which is the importance of leadership.

Evolutions of Mission Command

A Guest Post by Christopher L'Heureux

Seven years after replacing command and control with mission command, the Army decided to bring it back. There was an oft-stated problem that mission command was a confused concept. It was a group of communications systems, a warfighting function, and a philosophy. The rewrite aimed to clear the ambiguity. In addition, the Army was on its own doctrinal island and the rewrite realigned the Army with sister service, joint, and allied doctrine that had retained the concept of command and control. Finally, the Army had an opportunity. We were planning to consolidate ADPs and ADRPs anyway.

The problem in the Army wasn’t understanding the difference between a CPOF, using mission orders and intent to get things done, and tasks and processes needed to produce orders. The problem was that we misunderstood the philosophy. Most commonly, leaders interpreted mission command as a hands-off approach to let subordinates figure it out. Mission command was decentralized command and control.

A Candidate’s Thoughts on the Battalion Commander’s Assessment Program

A Guest Post by Tara Bradley

Photo Credit: Eric Pilgrim, Fort Knox News

In full disclosure, if you think this article will provide some sort of insight to gain a foothold at the Battalion Commander’s Assessment Program (BCAP); it won’t.  What it will do is provide some of my thoughts based on my attendance as part of FY20’s BCAP Cohort 002.  There is a lot of mystery surrounding the program and within the scope I’m allowed, I will share my impressions on my involvement.

Perhaps due to my 16+ years within the legacy command slating process, I was skeptical on the utility of the BCAP.  While the BCAP introduces multiple “vectors” of additional information for a board to consider, it also only presents a snapshot in time of an officer.  You have a bad day, and your physical fitness test score is not as high as usual.  You didn’t sleep well, and your assessments suffered.  The reality is, although it is only a snapshot, it is also real life for a Battalion Commander.  Not every day is a great day; sometimes it’s just okay.  If the BCAP can provide some additional insight into the “wholeness” of an officer, or even just identify an officer who may potentially derail an organization with an abusive or toxic attitude, then I think it is worth a try.

Talent Management: Expose your Captains to Post-KD Opportunities

A Guest Post by Zachary Griffiths and Nicholas Frazier

US Army photo, Oct 15, 2019

What advice should one offer to Captains for post-company command assignments? After Captain branch qualifying or key development (KD) positions, officers face significant career decisions. Should they stay in their current branch, leave active duty, or apply for a functional area? For those staying in, Intermediate Level Education (ILE) options present a wide-range of options. As first-line mentors, Majors have a responsibility to educate and inform Captains about broadening opportunities. In the spirit of talent management and AIM 2.0, the article explores methods to educate Captains to post-key developmental (KD) broadening opportunities. We conclude panels best educate and inform about their opportunities ahead. 

Four Keys to Ensuring Your Subordinates’ Success

A Guest Post by Nathan K. Player

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. William Chockey. Oct 21, 2019

In the eyes of many young Soldiers, “their LT” represents the Army. If you care, the Army cares. If you don’t, the Army doesn’t.  When an organization cares about your well-being, the natural reaction is to return the sentiment. Leaders who take a genuine interest in their subordinates will see their teams achieve amazing feats. To help new leaders get started in this important facet of their stewardship this article will discuss four topics: get to know your Soldiers; assist in their personal and professional needs; find out their goals and help develop a plan to achieve them; take care of your soldiers, they will always take care of the mission.